Jake wrote in
:

On Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:00:07 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:



On the plus side there is no need to water the hanging baskets.
(not strictly true some lobelia on the underside have dried out)

You forgot the other massive plus - all hosepipe bans have now been
lifted so everyone can put out their lawn sprinklers again and use
their hosepipes to water their vegetable patches.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.


Glad you reminded me, Jake. Almost forgot.
Baz

"Bob Hobden" wrote in
:

"Jake" wrote ...

Martin Brown wrote:

On the plus side there is no need to water the hanging baskets.
(not strictly true some lobelia on the underside have dried out)

You forgot the other massive plus - all hosepipe bans have now been
lifted so everyone can put out their lawn sprinklers again and use
their hosepipes to water their vegetable patches.


Finally we have had the hosepipe ban lifted so yesterday afternoon I
power washed our patio in between the showers, forgotten how nice it
looks without all that green on it.

How many times does a person have to shower? You must have a hellish big
patio. Well I thought it was amusing.
Baz

I find that the topic of exceptional rain is very on topic. While I
thank the gods that flooding, like Baz's, is almost impossible for me,
there have been, albeit minor, consequences. The rain was so severe last
Thursday that it funnelled down a sloping path, swung off the path onto
a bed then washed a large amount of soil off said bed and onto the
gravel path below. When, and if, it dries I will have to dig the gravel
out and sieve it returning the gravel to the path and the soil to the bed.
Another consequence for me has been for the first time I am having
problems with my raspberries, as they ripen they become mildewed.
Finally the strawberries have failed completely, however with help here
I hope to not have the problem next year, as I will plant into the
strawberry planters recommended by Jake; on an earlier thread.
Sorry to drone on about the bad weather.

Why not return the soil and gravel mixed to the bed, great for those
plants who like a little more drainage.
Then get new gravel for the path, it will be a lot less work in the long
run.
David @ the Ex sunny end of Swansea Bay

wrote in
:

And I think the first semi-accidental courgette (which was grown
deliberately but has rooted itself into a garden planter before I
could plant out on the allotment!) has its first fruit forming


Guess what we are all gonna do next year then? Semi-accidental some others
as well ;-) Deliberatly, of course.

Baz

"Baz" wrote in message
...
wrote in
:

And I think the first semi-accidental courgette (which was grown
deliberately but has rooted itself into a garden planter before I
could plant out on the allotment!) has its first fruit forming


Guess what we are all gonna do next year then? Semi-accidental some others
as well ;-) Deliberatly, of course.

Last week I went to buy some courgette plants but they had just sold out.
The nice lady suggested planting some seeds! She assured me they would be
growing fairly quickly. She was right!!! They are coming on by leaps and
bounds))

Newby O
--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

On Jul 11, 2:44*pm, "Pete" wrote:
Whilst I have every sympathy for Baz and others who have been affected by
recent weather/floods etc., isn't it about time this newsgroup got back to
what is supposed to be about -i.e. GARDENING!!!

It seems that the majority of threads this month alone have been
non-gardening - and the same was true in June

Come on all you gardeners - let-s have your thoughts/questions on gardening
please please please

Jeanne

Stop whinging.
You don't have to read them.
OTs keeps people reading/visiting the site when there's nothing else
on.

wrote in message
...
Baz wrote:
Tell us anyway. Let us all have a laugh at this horrid year and put it
behind us.

I'm in the middle of a currant-and-gooseberry feast, thankyouverymuch.
And I think the first semi-accidental courgette (which was grown
deliberately
but has rooted itself into a garden planter before I could plant out on
the
allotment!) has its first fruit forming

My courgettes are doing well. The ordinary green ones have a bit of mildew
but it has not affected them and have some fruit forming. The round ones
and the patty pan are not quite so advanced but have no mildew and look very
healthy.
My bro made a frame about 2 ft high with nylon netting stapled on and we
planted them on mounds with plenty of chicken poo mixed in, under there. It
seems to have worked. It's the first time I've grown them for years and the
best I've ever had - they are growing like triffids.
Almost everything else is a washout. French beans had only just been
planted out when we had the hailstorm and they were badly damaged. I flung
a bit of bit of blood fish and bone round them today to encourage them.
Runners are slow but some flowers on the first ones although they are only
half way up the canes and look pale so they got some bfb too, they haven't
got big enough to reach their roots down to the trench we dug full of
goodies for them to feast on "in dry weather.."
Coriander doing well. I had a nice sprinkle of it on my home made curry
tonight.

"Pete" wrote in message
...
Whilst I have every sympathy for Baz and others who have been affected by
recent weather/floods etc., isn't it about time this newsgroup got back to
what is supposed to be about -i.e. GARDENING!!!

It seems that the majority of threads this month alone have been
non-gardening - and the same was true in June

Come on all you gardeners - let-s have your thoughts/questions on
gardening please please please

Jeanne

I haven't seen the majority of posts here to be on non-gardening topics,
maybe you need a better newsreader ;-)

Weather is always relevant to gardening, especially such extreme rain as we
have having now, and I like to think we are all friends on here and can
support each other if we are in trouble.
Keeping strictly on topic hails back to the days of dial up (I was on that!)
when paying per minute to download OT stuff was a real annoyance. Nowadays
broadband is mostly available here but if you don't have it you can still
download the headers first and then work offline to see if you want to pay
to download the body of the message - that's why it's a good idea to put OT
in the title.

If you have broadband and just don't like every post being about gardening
on urg, GardenBanter might suit you better.
You do get better advice on here though and I am sure you know how to mark
"conversation read" if we stray.

Tina

On Jul 11, 2:44*pm, "Pete" wrote:
Whilst I have every sympathy for Baz and others who have been affected by
recent weather/floods etc., isn't it about time this newsgroup got back to
what is supposed to be about -i.e. GARDENING!!!

It seems that the majority of threads this month alone have been
non-gardening - and the same was true in June

Come on all you gardeners - let-s have your thoughts/questions on gardening
please please please

Jeanne

Surely the effects of climate change (which will in time make
gardening out of doors pretty much impossible), are perhaps extremely
relevant to this particular group? The weather may well effect members
of this group far more than most, and to me it seems very worrying
that almost all group members seem to have swallowed corp media
propaganda suggesting climate change either doesnt exist or is
irrelevant, even in the face of the worst summer since records began,
and similar situations in many other parts of the world.

I find it very heartening that a seasoned allotmenteer like you is having problems - it makes me realise that the almost total non-growth of outdoor stuff is because of the weather rather than my ineptitude.

And on top of all else, I read the other day about the "spanish stealth slug" which is now widespread in britain, having a great time in this wet weather, and instead of laying 100 eggs a season like most of our slugs, lays 400.

In article , Jake
writes
You forgot the other massive plus - all hosepipe bans have now been
lifted so everyone can put out their lawn sprinklers again and use
their hosepipes to water their vegetable patches.

Cheers, Jake


veolia hasn't
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Ragnar wrote:
There's a lovely red one that I keep seeing (or perhaps a family of them
on the allotment. I've not seen one quite like it before.

Red Admiral I wonder?

Oddly, I think I would recognise a red admiral.
Could have been one of these:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/i...70_470x352.jpg

Janet Tweedy wrote:
You forgot the other massive plus - all hosepipe bans have now been
lifted so everyone can put out their lawn sprinklers again and use
their hosepipes to water their vegetable patches.

veolia hasn't

Yup they have:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18764953

wrote in message
...
Ragnar wrote:
There's a lovely red one that I keep seeing (or perhaps a family of them
on the allotment. I've not seen one quite like it before.

Red Admiral I wonder?

Oddly, I think I would recognise a red admiral.
Could have been one of these:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/i...70_470x352.jpg

Very pretty but not a butterfly of course.
Love
Ragnar

Ragnar wrote:
There's a lovely red one that I keep seeing (or perhaps a family of them
on the allotment. I've not seen one quite like it before.

Red Admiral I wonder?

Oddly, I think I would recognise a red admiral.
Could have been one of these:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/i...70_470x352.jpg

Very pretty but not a butterfly of course.

Hmm, sings are in the wrong direction.
Not sure it's the same one, as I remember checking the one I saw and I'm
pretty sure it /was/ a butterfly not a moth, and there is less red on the
one in the picture. It's the 'right' red though.